A pastor has spoken out following the massacre at his church in Texas in which dozens of people, including his teenage daughter, were shot dead.

Frank Pomeroy urged his congregation to "lean on the Lord rather than your own understanding" after Devin Kelley shot 26 people dead at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs.

His 14-year-old daughter Annabelle was among the victims, of which the youngest was just 18 months old.

Image:The pastor's daughter, Annabelle Pomeroy, is one of the victims

He said: "Christ, he's the one who's going to be lifted up... My family is here and you guys are there.

"Whatever life brings to you, lean on the Lord rather than your own understanding. I don't understand, but I know my God. And that's where I'll leave that."

Annabelle's mother Sherri thanked family, friends and "complete strangers" for the "outpouring of love" they had shown.

Image:Sherri Pomeroy said much of her 'church family' had been killed

But she said she did not want her daughter's death to "overshadow" the other lives lost on Sunday.

"We lost more than Belle yesterday," she said. "And one thing that gives me a sliver of encouragement is the fact that Belle was surrounded yesterday by her church family that she loved fiercely. And vice versa.

"Our church was not comprised of members or parishioners. We were a very close family. We ate together, we laughed together, we cried together and we worship together."

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Sherri said most of her "church family" had been killed in the attack and branded the massacre "senseless".

She said: "As senseless as this tragedy was, our sweet Belle would not have been able to deal with losing so much family yesterday. Please don't forget Sutherland Springs."

The comments come after Kelley carried out the attack following a "domestic situation" with his family and in-laws, officials said.